Which Models of Supervision Help Retain Staff? Findings From Australia’s Domestic and Family Violence and Sexual Assault Workforces

ABSTRACT

The contribution professional supervision makes to quality services, staff satisfaction, and retention is well recognised across social work and human service settings. Yet frequent supervision is difficult to provide where organisational resources are limited and urgent client-related tasks must take priority. In these contexts, group-based supervision may offer an alternative to traditional individual approaches, yet its impacts have been infrequently researched. Using survey data (n?=?917), we examine the prevalence of individual and group-based supervision among practitioners delivering domestic and family violence and sexual assault services (DFVSA), and associations these forms of supervision have with staff retention. While individual supervision remains most common, one in eight practitioners report that they never receive it. Multivariate analysis indicates frequent individual supervision is most effective for retaining practitioners. This provides empirical support for prioritising individual supervision within strategies for promoting workforce sustainability and service quality in DFVSA and other social service settings.

IMPLICATIONS

• Individual supervision remains more common than group-based approaches in domestic and family violence and sexual assault services.

• Workplaces should consider prioritising individual supervision over group supervision when attempting to improve practitioner retention.

• Managers should adopt a critical stance and consider evidence when assessing the implications of adopting group-based approaches to supervision.

     

Developing Culturally Responsive Supervision Through Yarn Up Time and the CASE Supervision Model

ABSTRACT

This article explores a culturally focused supervision training program supporting Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal supervisors to provide cross-cultural supervision for Aboriginal staff within mainstream and Aboriginal community and human service organisations. The key features of the training program, Yarn Up Time and the CASE supervision model are a culturally respectful approach to cross-cultural professional supervision practice with the purpose of contributing to the development of culturally responsive supervision with Aboriginal staff and their clients. The article concludes with feedback from participants who attended the training and supports the future advancement of cross-cultural supervision practice and models in Australia.

IMPLICATIONS

• There continues to be a need for more culturally responsive supervision for Aboriginal staff and for non-Aboriginal social work practice with Aboriginal people.

• Yarn Up Time and the CASE model is a culturally appropriate approach for supervising Aboriginal staff and non-Aboriginal social workers’ supervision of social workers’ practice with Aboriginal communities.

• Social work supervisors need to be able to use an effective cultural supervision model to support Aboriginal staff in Yarn Up Time.

     

Social work in a multi-racial and multi-cultural environment

Abstract

Managing race and culture in social work is a matter of conceptualising and incorporating these dimensions in basic, sound casework, and in the structures of support and supervision which enable individual workers to provide this service.     

Bridging the Gaps: An Interdependent Model for Educating Accountable Practitioners

Abstract

This article presents an Interdependent Model that integrates field instruction with the clinical and research curricula to educate students to become accountable practitioners. It describes the application of this model in teaching single-system evaluation to social work students with support from faculty, field advisers, and agency practitioners who provide field supervision. The merits of using this model as compared to other more common, less comprehensive approaches to social work education are examined. Issues relating to the implementation of the Interdependent Model are also discussed.     

Pathways to social work supervision

ABSTRACT

Social work research and literature in the area of supervision tends to focus on the supervision of field education students. Less attention is given to the supervision of social work practitioners and there is almost no information that examines how social workers become supervisors. This exploratory study interviewed 27 practicing social work supervisors across different fields of social work practice in Western Canada. The participants included 15 supervisors with a graduate degree and 12 supervisors with an undergraduate degree. The supervisors completed a brief questionnaire that was followed by a structured interview. Supervisors were asked how they came to be social work supervisors. Thematic analysis of the supervisors’ responses revealed three pathways to supervision: task exposure, supervision by happen chance, and deliberate decision. The responses suggested that additional focus on supervision might be included in undergraduate education and that universities, professional associations, and employers pay more attention to succession planning.     

Enriching Social Work Supervision from the Competence Perspective

Abstract

Various aspects of social work supervision are viewed from the competence perspective in order to conceptualize the grounds for competence-centered supervision, and to point out the potential enrichment of social work education. The paper defines worker competence and outlines several basic guidelines for competence-centered supervision. Discussion of both the content of competence-oriented supervision and the characteristics of the competence-oriented supervisor follow. Procedures of evaluating the supervisee's competence then are suggested. Finally, the processes of competence-centered supervision are analyzed, and the usefulness of a unifying scheme of competence for practice, supervision, and education in social work is highlighted.     

User and Carer Experiences of International Social Care Workers in England: Listening to their Accounts of Choice and Control

Abstract

This paper develops a typology of people using social care services’ preferences for care workers and satisfaction with social care services from a large multimethod study that explored international recruitment to the English social care sector (home and health care, including residential homes). We developed this typology with two questions in mind: (a) what led to satisfaction of care and (b) what led to preference and satisfaction with workers? Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with 35 people who were using social care services and carers (2007–2009) and these data were used to develop the typology. Using the theoretical concept of homophily, we explored contentions that people might prefer to receive care and support from individuals resembling themselves. We observed that preferences for care workers and satisfaction with social care services may be linked, but highlighted that the concept of meeting a preference is personal to the individual. The implications of users’ preferences for certain care workers at a time where policy is promoting greater consumer-led care or self-directed support are discussed.     

Planning and implementing group supervision: a case study from homeless social care practice

ABSTRACT

Effective clinical supervision is increasingly recognised as essential in supporting staff who are working in the field of social care. Using a case study approach, this paper illustrates the processes involved in planning and implementing a group supervision pilot with a team working in a homeless service. The supervision models used to inform and guide this initiative are described and the style and structure of the supervision sessions are discussed. The paper additionally provides a reflective analysis of group dynamics and group processes observed during this work. Subsequent conclusions identify the key features of this process and may provide guidance for other practice settings.     

An International Perspective of Field Instruction

Abstract

Social work educators and practitioners have long debated several issues confronting field instruction. For example, they have addressed the structure of field placement, school versus agency-based supervision, remuneration to agencies that accept student placements, and the use of employer agencies as field settings. Because problem-solving increasingly involves working with people in nations other than the United States, it is important to gain an international perspective on field instruction issues. To this end, an international study was conducted to examine social work field instruction and the educational context in which it occurs. This article reports the findings of that study, which involved 51 countries. The universality of field instruction as an integral part of educational program, is apparent, as are the similarity of issues, problems, and proposed solutions Moreover, the findings indicate areas in which social work education has greater international consistency than education for the professions within national and regional boundaries, whereas other areas are influenced more by national and regional factors than by a universal social work professional culture.     

A look behind the curtain at social work supervision in interprofessional practice settings: critical themes and pressing practical challenges

Supervision has been an integral aspect of social work practice since the early days of the profession. The literature suggests that ‘supervision is an essential and integral part of the training and continuing education required for the skillful development of professional social workers’ (p. 5). The literature does appear to support that all social workers ought to have some level of supervision; however, within interprofessional settings, where social work is one of many professions, that goal may not be easily attained. Although some interprofessional settings, like hospitals, have social work departments, other settings, like schools, may only have one social worker, resulting in a workplace environment devoid of social work supervision. This article presents findings from a national study of social workers employed in interprofessional organizations. It was hypothesized that this cohort could provide important insights about the nature of social work supervision in agencies characterized by an interdisciplinary workforce. Using both open-ended and specific categorical questions, respondents were asked to describe and convey information about the supervision process and experience in their agency. An Internet-based survey was used to reach a broad spectrum of social work practitioners and educators (975 deliverable and 426 completed) across the United States.     

Operationalising professional supervision in this age of accountabilities

Abstract

The paper reviews the tensions, complexities, risks and ambiguities of the role and tasks of the social work supervisor: these can surface in efforts to negotiate individualised supervision agreements with colleagues and with students. Given the marked lack of national and international research attention to processes in social work supervision, the paper explores the skills, principles and arguments for a suggested model of ‘Developmental Supervision’ — in the context of a framework of supervision practice congruent with the knowledge, skills and values of social work. Finally, there is some exploration of the unintended consequences of ‘Quick-Fix’ Supervision for the cutture of decision-thinking and professional practice.     

Instrumentalism,knowledge and gender in social work

Abstract

The new public sector managerialism of the 1990s has introduced a profound cultural change within social work organisations. It involves a substitution of knowledge which is primarily instrumental in character for the discursive, interpretive and reflexive knowledge on which social workers have traditionally relied in client-centred practice. This paper draws on perspectives from critical theory and psychoanalysis and argues that, despite the apparent neutrality of managerialist discourse, it is both ideological and gendered. It encourages the construction of rigid socially structured defence systems within welfare organisations and is inimical to the kind of thought which can engage with interwoven emotional and material needs to develop reparative practice. Furthermore it is in danger of undermining precisely those forms of supervision that can sustain professionals in the face of the emotional impact of relationships with distressed and damaged people.     

Social work stories: situated views and larger visions in disciplinary scholarship and education

ABSTRACT

This paper is about the changing imaginations of social work in an increasingly entangled world. It is also about the ways in which literatures shared across time and space encourage us to identify with larger collectivities. My central argument is that if social work is to find a larger vision in the wake of the failure of a range of modern progress narratives, we must engage differently with the challenge posed by multiplying and sometimes conflicting knowledge communities. Thinking with contemporary debates in transdisciplinary critical social theory, I nominate and explore a number of alternative heuristics—‘generational problematic,’ ‘translational space,’ and ‘imagined communities’—in support of future work on the uneven temporal and spatial communities of affiliation that reproduce and change what social work is, or could be, about. I conclude with theoretical suggestions, and some thoughts toward how social work education might better support incoming generations to locate themselves within the broader life-course of the discipline and profession.     

Internet-Based Instruction as an Innovative Approach to Managing Prerequisite Curriculum Content in a Graduate Social Work Program

SUMMARY

Students admitted to graduate social work programs possess varying levels of understanding of prerequisite curriculum content. Compounding this situation is that social work educators teaching at the foundation level are now required to provide an expanded array of curriculum content in their courses. This article conceptualizes an Internet-Based orientation course as a unique tool for preparing students with prerequisite curriculum content necessary for successful integration and mastery of a graduate curriculum. Several steps are presented in the design and development of the course: obtaining support and approval, identifying and collecting data, designing and developing course components, and implementing and evaluating the course. Although course development occurs within a social work education setting, findings from this Internet-Based orientation course are applicable to other educational and human service settings.     

Demonstrating in the internet age: a test of Castells’ theory

ABSTRACT

Some social movements researchers argue that the Internet globalises protest and equalises cross-national inequalities in opportunities for activism. Critics warn against such techno-optimism, highlighting continued individual-level inequalities and country-level variation in protest participation. In this paper, we operationalise Manuel Castells’ theory of social movement development to test the extent to which contemporary demonstrators share the characteristics of global activists. We also examine how country-level economic and political institutions affect levels of protest and moderate the relationship between individual-level predictors and activism. We find support for Castells’ contention that use of online media is a significant predictor of protest. However, we also find that having a sense of global connectedness does not significantly affect one’s likelihood of engaging in demonstrations. Protest participation continues to be stratified by traditional markers of social privilege including education and gender. Moreover, national political and economic contexts have independent effects on protest and moderate how individual-level political and economic grievances affect civic engagement.     

Voices of 65 Young People Leaving Care in Sweden: “There Is So Much I Need to Know!”

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine young care leavers’ experiences of supportive and nonsupportive factors after leaving care. Telephone interviews were conducted with 65 young people, between 18 and 26 years old, who had left care in Sweden within the previous 3 months to 3 years. The care-leaving process was in many cases described by the young people as badly planned and compressed. Some interviewees received support from the formal network (social services, foster carers, residential homes, contact persons) for housing (37) and financial matters (36), but few received support from the formal network concerning employment (14) and education (11). Emotional support was mainly provided by partners and friends. Altogether, the results suggest that access to support is a helpful factor for young people leaving care, but also that many of our interviewees had no such access, from neither formal nor informal networks.     

The Productivity Commission Inquiry into Aged Care: A Critical Review

Abstract

The final report of the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Aged Care has recommended a substantial restructuring of Australia's aged care system to make it fairer, more responsive to the needs of individual consumers, and more sustainable in the context of population ageing. While acknowledging the necessity of a safety net and the needs of diverse groups, the recommended reforms continue to advance the neoliberal restructuring of Australia's health and welfare systems. This paper provides a critical examination of the context and key drivers for change, and considers the reception of the report within the aged care sector. While social workers are actively engaged in the aged care system, they are largely absent from the discussion in the final report. Nonetheless, the transfer of recommendations into actual policy provides an opportunity for social work to argue its unique contribution and potential in the delivery of aged care.     

Social Care Work in the Recent Past: Revisiting the Professional/Amateur Dichotomy

Abstract

The present article challenges the received wisdom of the distinctiveness of professional social work in Australia and its dichotomous juxtapositioning against work undertaken by those without formal social work qualifications. Findings are presented from a qualitative study of Australian Catholic sisters’ experiences of social care work in the recent past, based on indepth interviews with sisters who collectively worked in a variety of fields from the 1950s to the time of writing. Sisters’ accounts of work with marginalised people reveal many similarities with the values and principles of social work. This suggests a blurred line between “professional” social work and “amateur” social care work. In an era of reconsideration of many certainties, Australian social work could profitably reflect on its commonalities with, and differences from, practice domains outside professional social work.     

Student to Practitioner: A Study of Preparedness for Social Work Practice

Abstract

Australian social work graduates face an increasingly complex work environment where the role of the social worker is often overlooked or misunderstood. In order to examine the anticipated and concrete practice reality for social workers, this qualitative study examined the expectations of social work students preparing to enter the workforce (n=29) and the experiences of new social work graduates in the workplace (n=9). Findings suggest that undergraduates have a realistic understanding of the challenges they would encounter in practice, including anticipated value and ethical conflicts, and allied professions' conceptions of the social work role. They did not anticipate the busyness of the workplace or the level of supervision offered.